


Tempests

by LadyKes



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: Daniel Sousa's family, Gen, Pre-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-10 01:35:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19897705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyKes/pseuds/LadyKes
Summary: Most of the time, Frank Sousa thought he was doing alright at raising three teenagers, but occasionally there was a tempest.  A fic set in Paeonia's Quo Vadis Universe and set well before the series.





	Tempests

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Quo Vadis?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3804475) by [Paeonia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paeonia/pseuds/Paeonia). 



> Every character except Daniel Sousa is from the mind of Paeonia, who has kindly given permission to play in her sandbox.

Most of the time, Frank thought he was doing alright at raising three teenagers. Sure, Ines and Tillie seemed to have a squabble over who’d borrowed what clothes from whose side of the closet more often than he’d like, but they were good, kind girls. And Daniel was a hard worker and a respectful boy, always ready to shovel Mrs. Acosta’s walk or rake Mrs. Ramalho’s leaves. Tonight, though, Frank settled into bed with a deep sigh and a wish that his Kitty was still here. 

It’d started with a slamming car door, so he’d known that the children were back from Pete’s birthday party. They lived close enough to walk from the Escobars’, of course, but Ritchie hadn’t had his license very long and Frank suspected he took every opportunity to drive around and look cool. 

The next sound was the pounding of feet on the porch and the squeak of the screen door. He’d need to oil that soon, and he reminded himself to make sure to get another bottle of oil at the hardware store. He’d used the last of the bottle on the cellar door last week.

“Paaaaaai,” Tillie called in what Frank privately called her “I know a secret” voice. He didn’t hear that voice as often as Ines probably heard it, but he still recognized it.

“Tillie,” he heard Daniel say in warning, and Ines was only a second behind him with the same warning. Daniel and Tillie were close enough in age that they tended to poke at each other a little, so Ines played peacemaker. She was good at it, too. She’d be a good mother someday. 

“Daniel’s got a girl,” Tillie said in a singsong voice as she sashayed into the living room. Daniel followed behind her looking like a slightly embarrassed storm cloud. Ines was silent for now, but she wasn’t going upstairs either.

“Would you stop it? I don’t have a girl,” Daniel insisted as he flopped onto the couch a little more forcefully than usual. Frank reminded him with a look to treat the furniture better than that and he straightened up. Tillie collapsed into the easy chair and looked smug while Ines settled at the other end of the couch as a buffer between her siblings.

“Nope, I’m not going to stop it, because you do have a girl,” Tillie insisted. It seemed likely to devolve into a “do not, do too” kind of argument, and Frank held a hand up. Both children immediately stopped talking.

“All right, both of you,” he said sternly. “Tillie, would you like it if Daniel teased you about having a fella like this?”

“He’d do it!” she defended herself. 

“He might, but would he stop when you asked him to?” Frank pressed, and Tillie looked down.

“Yes, Papai.”

“And so don’t you think you should stop when he asks you to? Not to mention not spreading rumors that might hurt people?”

“Yes, Papai.” 

This yes was a little more quiet, and Frank thought the point had been made, but he wanted to be sure. He didn’t want to push too much, but he wanted to be sure.

“Now, if Daniel had a girl, and I’m not saying he does,” Frank said quickly, because Daniel looked ready to point out again that he didn’t have a girl. “That’s something he would want to share himself when he was ready, not something he would want you to go around telling me or Ines or anyone else.”

“Yes, Papai.” The final yes was obedient and followed by an apology. “I’m sorry I teased you about having a girl, Daniel.”

“I forgive you,” Daniel said quietly. 

“Alright then,” Frank said, and started shooing them upstairs. They were all old enough to go to bed on their own and it was on their own heads if they were too tired the next day, but they had to be in their bedrooms by a certain time. 

There seemed to be fewer arguments over who was taking too much time in the bathroom tonight, and he listened with half an ear as usual. When everyone was through, he went up to check on them all. Ines and Tillie were deep in a giggly conversation, so he just kissed them both on the forehead and offered a good night blessing. 

He knocked gently on Daniel’s door and pushed it open when he heard his son respond. Daniel was sitting up in bed reading one of his gangster stories, but he put the book down when Frank came in.

“You alright, son?” he asked quietly, and Daniel nodded. “You … want to tell me about it?”

“There’s really nothing to tell,” Daniel insisted, but the tips of his ears were getting a little red, so probably there was something, and Frank motioned to the end of the bed to ask permission to sit down. Daniel nodded again, so Frank sat down and waited. With Tillie or Ines, they could open their mouths and their entire day would fall out, but Daniel was quieter. 

“Rosa Almeida told Tillie she liked me,” Daniel finally said. “And then we were paired up for some of the games at the party tonight, so Tillie started telling everyone she was my girl. But she’s not my girl. I mean, she’s a nice girl, but I don’t have a girl.”

Personally, Frank thought both Daniel and Rosa Almeida were still a little too young to be thinking about having fellas or having girls, but he was more concerned that Daniel hadn’t felt embarrassed about being teased like that.

“Is that it?”

Daniel’s ears were completely red now, and he looked down.

“When we were leaving the party, Rosa kissed me on the cheek. So that just sealed it for Tillie. But she’s not my girl, Pai, honest.”

“I believe you, Daniel, but I think you need to make sure she knows she’s not your girl. Kissing you on the cheek could just be a nice thing she did, but if you don’t like her like that, you don’t want her to get hurt by thinking you do.”

“I didn’t do anything to make her think I did!” Daniel protested, and Frank chuckled. He would bet that Daniel had been respectful and friendly and helped Rosa in the games. That wasn’t nothing, even if Daniel didn’t think it was worth mentioning. And even in the last few months, Daniel had been growing into his face and body. Rosa Almeida probably wasn’t the only girl who’d noticed that.

“You’re a good boy, Daniel,” he said instead. “I’m proud of how you handled things tonight, even when Tillie was teasing you. And Mamãe would be proud too. Now go to bed. You know you’re on the schedule for early Mass tomorrow.”

Daniel groaned, but it was mostly for show. None of the boys liked serving at early Mass, but they all showed up when it was their turn. 

“Good night, Pai,” he said, and put his book carefully on his nightstand so it wouldn’t be damaged.

“Good night, son,” Frank said, and placed his hand on Daniel’s curly head to give him a blessing before he flipped the light on the way out of his son’s room.

Hopefully that was the only tempest of the weekend, and he went down the hall to start getting ready for bed himself. If Daniel was serving at early Mass, Frank was attending it, and he needed his sleep as much as his son did. 

He hoped he’d handled that correctly. He always doubted himself a little with these tempests and wished for Catarina to help him with them. Everyone in his house was settled in for a quiet sleep and a sweet dream, though, and that was all he thought he could ask.


End file.
